District 15 — U.S. House of Representatives

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About this office

Representatives are elected to two-year terms to represent the people of a specific congressional district in the federal government. They introduce and vote on new laws, hold hearings, and are responsible for approving federal taxes.

For this office, only the two candidates who get the most votes in the primary election advance to the general election. The two candidates may be from the same political party.

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My Top 3 Priorities

Expand economic opportunity

Guarantee women receive equal pay for equal work

Prevent cuts to Social Security & Medicare

Experience

Experience

Profession:Member of Congress

Member of Congress, U.S. Congress — Elected position (2013–current)

Deputy District Attorney, Alameda County District Attorney (2006–2012)

Education

University of Maryland School of Law — J.D., Law (2006)

Biography

As co-chairman of the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee, Congressman Eric Swalwell helps set the caucus’ policy agenda and oversees committee assignments. As founder and chairman of Future Forum, he is House Democrats’ point man on outreach to millennials – the nation’s biggest, most diverse and best-educated generation. And as Ranking Member of the House Intelligence Committee’s CIA Subcommittee and a Judiciary Committee member, he’s playing key roles in keeping our nation safe.

In all these roles, Eric Swalwell fights for Americans’ Freedom to Dream: the ability to reach for and attain better lives for themselves and their families.

Eric, 37, represents California’s 15th Congressional District, including much of the eastern San Francisco Bay Area. Raised in Dublin, Calif., he’s the son of a retired police officer and a still-working mother; the oldest of four siblings; and – with a Division 1 soccer scholarship – the first in his family to attend college. His Capitol Hill internship coincided with the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, cementing his resolve to enter public service and inspiring his first legislative achievement: a public-private college scholarship program for students who lost parents in the attacks. After earning a law degree, working as a county prosecutor and serving on the Dublin City Council, he won his first House term in 2012 by defeating a 40-year incumbent.

Since then, Eric has emerged as a leading voice for younger Americans. In April 2015, he founded Future Forum: a group of young Democratic Members of Congress, now numbering about 25, focused on issues most important to millennials including college affordability and student loan debt; jobs and economic opportunity; home ownership; and climate change.

Eric’s Intelligence and Judiciary committee seats, along with his prosecutorial background, give him a unique perspective on protecting Americans and our rights.

When House Democrats staged a 25-hour sit-in to decry inaction on gun-violence legislation in June 2016, Eric was first to live-stream the protest from his phone after House cameras went dark. When it became clear that Russia interfered in 2016’s election, he introduced the first legislation calling for an independent, bipartisan commission to investigate the meddling and ensure it never happens again.

Although firm in his Democratic principles, Eric deliberately has charted a bipartisan course – and not just because he’s the son of two Republicans. In his first term, he co-founded the United Solutions Caucus composed of freshman from both sides of the aisle who continue to work together to find common ground and solve problems.

Eric has forgotten neither where he came from nor why he was sent to Washington. Honoring a campaign promise, he returns to his district most weekends for local meetings and events. His constant motion has spawned a bona fide social-media phenomenon: #Swalwelling, the act of photographing one’s own foot crossing an aircraft’s threshold. And when his duties require him to be elsewhere, he is adept at using technology to stay in close touch with constituents – from Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to Skype, Snapchat and Periscope.

Organizations (6)

Questions & Answers

Questions from League of Women Voters of California Education Fund (5)

What financing method(s) would you support to repair or improve roads, rails, ports, airports, the electrical grid and other infrastructure in the U.S.?

Answer from Eric Swalwell:

America’s infrastructure is all about you: It’s the roads you drive on, the bridges you cross, the water and sewer systems that serve your home, the schools your kids learn in, the energy grid that powers your community, and more. All of those are in desperate need of repair or replacement. America simply hasn’t kept up with the times in maintaining the bones and muscles that keep us moving. The good news is, the solution is all about you, too: Building new roads and advancing our renewable energy production would mean a ton of new, good-paying jobs for working Americans – a leg up for our economy, and a boost into the middle class for many.

Unfortunately, President Trump’s infrastructure plan is much like his hotels and casinos – it looks shiny and exciting on the outside, but inside, it cuts corners and takes advantage of working Americans. It puts most of the burden on already-strained state or local budgets while privatizing too many public resources, selling our nation’s backbone to the highest bidder. Instead, I support a plan that includes a federal investment five times bigger than Trump’s to fix our roads, bridges, transit, airports, ports, waterways, rail, and schools. It brings high-speed Internet to every corner of the nation, creates more than 16 million new good-paying jobs, safeguards clean air and water, prepares us for the impacts of climate change, puts our kids in the quality schools they deserve, and turbo-charges our economy.

I do all I can to support extending BART to Livermore – I had a hand in creating the Tri-Valley San Joaquin Valley Regional Rail Authority that’s exploring how best to connect BART to ACE, which would help reduce the terrible auto traffic now clogging the Interstate 580 corridor. That means more time that commuters can spend with their families or at work rather than stuck on the road; a smoother flow of cargo through this crucial pipeline to and from the Bay Area’s ports; reduced air pollution; and some relief for the region’s affordable housing crisis. It also would benefit BART, both by creating the opportunity to develop a maintenance yard on the eastern end of the blue line, where most of the trains begin the morning commute, and by taking advantage of the system’s reverse commute capacity by bringing commuters to Livermore-area jobs near the new station.

What programs or legislation, if any, would you support to help Americans of all ages secure affordable health care?

Answer from Eric Swalwell:

Instead of undermining the Affordable Care Act with administrative and regulatory tricks, we should be seeking ways to shore it up and make it even stronger and fairer – it’s been a boon to millions of formerly un-insured American families. But I believe we should be designing a single-payer, universal Medicare for All system. It’s time for us to catch up with the rest of the world and ensure that no American dies or goes bankrupt for lack of health care.

Describe an immigration policy that you would support if presented to the House.

Answer from Eric Swalwell:

Our nation desperately needs comprehensive immigration reform that includes border security, a path to citizenship for those already here, and a fair and smart system going forward for dealing with both legal and undocumented immigration. But while we work on that, we must act immediately to protect Dreamers, who were brought here through no choice of their own and have never saluted any flag but America’s. They’re our neighbors, our friends, our co-workers, and they deserve to be protected.

Question 4

What programs or legislation would you support to meet the water needs of Californians and the federal water project infrastructure in California?

No answer provided.

According to a "Civility In America” survey, 75% of Americans believe that the U.S. has a major civility problem. If you are elected what will do to address this?

Answer from Eric Swalwell:

In my first term, I co-founded the United Solutions Caucus, bringing together members from both sides of the aisle to discuss issues and find common ground where we can work together. Most bills in which I’m involved are bipartisan, and I’ve been the lead House Democrat on two Republican-authored bills that President Trump has signed into law: the Rapid DNA Act of 2017, to help local law enforcement use new technology to speed up justice, and the Social Security Number Fraud Prevention Act of 2017, to combat identity theft.

I will continue to seek out opportunities to work with my colleagues to solve problems.

Who gave money to this candidate?

Contributions

Total money raised: $2,794,312

Top contributors that gave money to support the candidate, by organization:

1

Employees of MacKenzie Capital Management

$16,200

2

Oracle and employees

$10,835

3

Employees of Apex Covantage

$10,800

3

Employees of Blackstone

$10,800

3

Employees of Volcano Capital Management

$10,800

More information about contributions

By State:

California 52.36%

District of Columbia 16.29%

Virginia 5.46%

New York 5.21%

Other 20.68%

52.36%16.29%20.68%

By Size:

Large contributions (92.98%)

Small contributions (7.02%)

92.98%

By Type:

From organizations (34.12%)

From individuals (65.88%)

34.12%65.88%

Source: MapLight analysis of data from the Federal Election Commission.

Political Beliefs

Political Philosophy

Gun Violence

Summary

We must do more to prevent gun violence.

I’ve cosponsored bills to require truly universal background checks for all gun purchases, to deny people on the terrorist watch list the ability to purchase a firearm, to create a Gun Violence Prevention Order system in which families can ask courts to prevent a loved one who poses a risk of violence from possessing a firearm, and to finally put resources into researching the causes and potential solutions of gun violence. I’ve also supported reinstating the federal assault weapons ban, but I’ve recently concluded that doing so without prohibiting possession would accomplish little – I now support a federal buyback of all military-style, semi-automatic assault weapons already in circulation, after which possession would be a federal crime; this ban wouldn’t apply to law enforcement or shooting clubs. Our kids’ right to come home alive from school is more important than an imagined Second Amendment right to own any kind of weapon one wishes. We must take weapons of war out of our communities.

My Top 3 Priorities

Bringing jobs to the 15th District to reduce congestion. Why can't Apple, Google, Facebook and other large Silicon Valley companies expand in the East Bay? Bring back manufacturing and cut regulations.

Who supports this candidate?

Organizations (2)

Questions & Answers

Questions from League of Women Voters of California Education Fund (5)

What financing method(s) would you support to repair or improve roads, rails, ports, airports, the electrical grid and other infrastructure in the U.S.?

Answer from Rudy L. Peters, Jr.:

We can take advantage of the unique opportunity to partner with the federal government and capitalize on the nation-wide infrastructure rebuilding plan being enacted by the new administration in Washington. Part of that plan includes an investment of $200 billion in federal funding (leading to approx. $1.5 trillion in total investment at the state, local, and private level). And even better, much of the decision-making around these investments will be returned to state and local governments. Along with this, the infrastructure plan will also eliminate the usual regulatory barriers which have previously prevented most infrastructure projects from being completed efficiently (i.e. on time and under budget—a rare thing in California these days).

Taking all the above in consideration, we need representatives in Washington who will work to accomplish what we—the residents of the 15th district—feel is most important for us. As your elected representative, I will work to secure funding to accomplish the following improvements:

Expanding our vital water supplies. (Lest we forget, water = food and jobs.)

Improving our highway interchanges.

Improving and upgrading our electrical grid.

Working to cut the permitting process and repeal outdated regulations.

We need to take a fresh look at California regulations that benefit no one but bureaucrats and result in slow approvals for projects that would strengthen California's economy and way of life. It’s no secret our infrastructure is falling behind because of the failure to update and maintain systems that were built and implemented 50 years ago. Our economic success depends on the efficiency and quality of our transportation, water, and energy systems.

If elected, one of my top priorities will be to secure the necessary funding and regulatory reform necessary to bring California’s infrastructure up-to-date. After all, California now has the 6th largest economy on the planet. Isn’t it time we took steps to ensure that it also has a robust and reliable infrastructure worthy of its economic prowess?

What programs or legislation, if any, would you support to help Americans of all ages secure affordable health care?

Answer from Rudy L. Peters, Jr.:

Healthcare reform should lower costs, raise care quality, and ensure basic health services for all Americans.Reform must cover pre-existing conditions and low-income families. It should give states flexibility to solve local issues. It must stress the central role of the private sector. We should build on the current health care system and avoid restrictive single-payer systems. New coverage types, such as health care sharing (members share bills), should be promoted. Consumer choice must range from full coverage to catastrophic plans.New plans such as concierge care (flat fees for doctor visits) increase access. Medical device taxes must be eliminated. Firms can then shift tax savings into research that may lower treatment cost. Malpractice laws should be changed to reduce costs. Prescription drug costs must be addressed. Companies sell new drugs overseas at a fraction of the price Americans pay.We must make fair pricing of drugs a top trade priority to lower U.S. prices.

Describe an immigration policy that you would support if presented to the House.

Answer from Rudy L. Peters, Jr.:

Firt Priority: Protecting our nation's borders—land, air, and sea—from the illegal entry of people, weapons, drugs, and contraband is vital to our homeland security and economic prosperity. Second: Empower Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to first deport those with serious criminal records. Third: Bi-partisanship plan for dealing with DACA and illegal immigrants already here in the U.S.

Question 4

What programs or legislation would you support to meet the water needs of Californians and the federal water project infrastructure in California?

No answer provided.

According to a "Civility In America” survey, 75% of Americans believe that the U.S. has a major civility problem. If you are elected what will do to address this?

Answer from Rudy L. Peters, Jr.:

Until we stop the pattern of neglect and the denial of basic humanity toward our neighbors, our great country will remain divided. Elected officials and Leaders need to set an example in civility.

Who gave money to this candidate?

Contributions

Total money raised: $52,354

Top contributors that gave money to support the candidate, by organization:

1

Rudy L. Peters, Jr.

$16,080

2

Employees of Cimed

$2,700

3

Employees of Lightcloud Software

$2,600

4

Employees of Knuppe Productions, Inc

$1,000

4

Employees of Ncsi

$1,000

4

Employees of Rizin, B.

$1,000

More information about contributions

By State:

California 80.69%

Arizona 6.95%

Maryland 6.95%

Oregon 2.58%

Other 2.83%

80.69%

By Size:

Large contributions (74.23%)

Small contributions (25.77%)

74.23%25.77%

By Type:

From organizations (1.29%)

From individuals (98.71%)

98.71%

Source: MapLight analysis of data from the Federal Election Commission.